Rutgers president: Video changed my mind on coach

NEW BRUNSWICK (AP) — Students and New Jersey officials praised Wednesday’s firing of Rutgers men’s basketball coach Mike Rice, but said that they want more answers about why it wasn’t done sooner.

Rice was ousted Wednesday, a day after the public got its first look at excerpts of video showing Rice yelling gay slurs, kicking and shoving players and throwing basketballs at them during practices. The behavior was especially flagrant at a university that has struggled in recent years with the role of its athletic program and how gay students are treated on campus.

“I’m puzzled as to how anyone could think Mr. Rice was someone who should be representing our state university on a national level,” Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver said in a statement. “I expect a full and detailed explanation from the Rutgers administration as to why Mr. Rice was not dismissed sooner and how exactly that decision was made.”

The saga first became public late last year when Rice was suspended for three games, fined and ordered to anger management counseling after the video was provided to university officials.

It blew up publicly when Tim Pernetti, the university’s athletic director, presented the video to reporters Tuesday as ESPN was preparing to air it.

Rutgers University President Robert Barchi said Wednesday that while he had been told about Rice’s tirades months ago, seeing video of them this week helped him conclude that the men’s basketball coach should be fired.

Barchi said in a statement that he decided along with Pernetti to fire Rice on Wednesday.

Barchi said his position changed after seeing the video clips himself. “I have now reached the conclusion that coach Rice cannot continue to serve effectively in a position that demands the highest levels of leadership, responsibility and public accountability,” Barchi said.

The firing was praised nearly universally, including by Gov. Chris Christie, who issued a statement calling it a “regrettable episode for the university.”

“As we move on from this incident, I am very optimistic that Rutgers will select a new head coach who not only puts a winning team on the court,” Christie said, “but will make everyone proud of the example he sets every day for the young men in his charge.”

Speaking with reporters outside his home in Little Ferry after he was fired, Rice apologized for his actions.

“It’s troubling, but at some time maybe I’ll try to explain it,” he said. “But right now there’s no explanation for what’s on those films. There is no excuse for it. I was wrong. I want to tell everybody who’s believed in me that I’m deeply sorry for the pain and hardship that I’ve caused.”

Pernetti has said that about 60 percent of the clips on the video, which was made by former basketball program Eric Murdock, were in Rice’s first year as coach, during the 2010-11 season. If that’s the case, the incidents came soon after a campus tragedy brought about introspection and policy changes regarding how gas students are treated.

In 2010, the university got widespread attention when freshman Tyler Clementi killed himself after his roommate used a webcam to see him kissing another man. The roommate, Dharun Ravi, spent 20 days in jail last year after being convicted of bias intimidation, invasion of privacy and other crimes.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Rutgers changed several policies to try to make the campus more hospitable to gay students, including allowing students to have a roommate of any gender.

On campus, 19-year-old freshman Juan Torres said he took the allegations against Rice much more seriously after seeing the video this week. “This is already hurting our reputation,” he said. “Not firing him would have killed our reputation.”

“It’s an embarrassment for Rutgers,” Torres said.

Rutgers has also had years of angst over the growing role and costs of a top-notch sports program, which is a relatively new development for a school that had long fielded also-rans in high-profile sports such as football and men’s basketball. Rice had high expectations but not much success, coaching his team to a 44-51 record in three years.

Another 19-year-old first-year student, Carlos Zapata, said he was troubled by the video but that the firing may have been too harsh.